Mayor Don Wesely said today that Lincoln citizens will be better served as the
result of a partnership between the City of Lincoln and the J.D. Edwards Honors
Program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Over the past two semesters, a
UNL student team has developed ServiceLinc, a prototype computer system to track
and respond to the concerns of constituents.

“As the City grows, the number of citizens who have questions and concerns about
City government grows too,” said Mayor Wesely. “I created the position of City
Ombudsman in July 1999 to open up City government. This new computer tool will
further increase the responsiveness of local government to the citizens.”

City Ombudsman Lin Quenzer, who will administer ServiceLinc, said her office
handles 100 to 145 cases a week. ServiceLinc will help to maintain constituent
contact information, will allow concerns to be prioritized and will aid in
following up on concerns. For those issues that involve more than one City
department, ServiceLinc will centralize the effort, reduce duplication and
increase efficiency. The Ombudsman will be better able to review the history
of cases and resolve citizen issues.

“With this system, we will be able to generate statistics that will tell us the
greatest areas of concern,” said Wesely. “That information is very valuable as
City leaders look toward making policy and budget decisions. The students who
worked on this project can take pride in the fact that their work will directly
benefit the citizens of this community.”

The Information Services Division of the Finance Department assisted in development
of ServiceLinc. The initial group of departments using the prototype are the
City Attorney’s Office; Building and Safety; Public Works and Utilities; and the
Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department. All City departments and divisions
will eventually be involved, and the system may be made commercially available
to other local governments.